Bucs Beat Q&A: Andy Bednar talks trade, memories of son David's time as Pirates closer

David Bednar’s father, Andy, talks with TribLive for this week’s Bucs Beat Q&A:

How hard was it to see David get traded after being able to enjoy watching him play for the Pirates?

I think about this a lot. Originally, you’re happy that your kid is going to play college baseball. Then he does pretty well, and there might be an outside shot that he gets a chance to play pro baseball, and he gets drafted in the 35th round. Then it’s just like you’re happy to be there and you’re going through the ups and downs in the minor leagues and, all of a sudden, you put together a good year and you’re knocking on a big-league team’s door. That’s kind of how it went down. When he gets a chance to play in September 2019 with the Padres, it’s just completely surreal. Then traded to your hometown team. It was just one thing after another. We were just ecstatic for him to be in the big leagues and lived the dream for five years playing in Pittsburgh. I’m not going to lie, I loved every minute of it. I get a little stressed in the ninth inning, I’m sure like any father would. It was just an incredible run. The Pirates gave him a chance to be an everyday big leaguer and we’re so grateful for that. Now, just excited for what’s on the horizon with the Yankees.

Was the trade deadline a nerve-wracking week?

I was thinking two years ago there was a slim chance. This year, I kind of thought it was a lot closer going into his third year of arbitration. There was a lot of noise on social media that he’s not looking at, but we look at. I thought this was the most likely chance it was going to happen. It was bittersweet, for sure, but we’re pretty excited about what potentially is on the horizon. I’m not going to lie. I was just hoping for East Coast. You heard about Philadelphia. You heard about Detroit. Both New York teams. We were just ecstatic it was going to be the East Coast.

How did you deal with hearing trade rumors?

You do, but you’ve got to sift through it. As the father of a closer, when things weren’t going well they beat you up pretty good. I thought the same thing as far as the trade deadline. The joke we always have is some of the people posting are like Will Ferrell’s character living with his mother in “Wedding Crashers”: “Ma! The Meatloaf!” It could be someone like that saying it. You realize the source of who is starting those rumors.

Do you have a favorite memory of David with the Pirates?

Obviously, the two All-Star Games were special. The bobblehead night when he came in to get the save, I think he pitched an inning and a third with guys in scoring position. It was a double play to end the game. That was just electric. We were at the Skull Bar with about 150 friends. I’ll never forget that. Every Opening Day was really special. We’d host a pretty big tailgate. That was a lot of fun. Just getting to know a lot of the people that work at PNC Park. We figured out the best parking spot to get out when the HOV lanes were closed. The ushers and the Pirates staff, everyone was wonderful. It’s a crazy game. You never know what can happen in this business. Look, Cutch came back. It’s always nice that it’s only 25 minutes away from here. I still think PNC probably is the most beautiful park in baseball.

Do you have plans to go to a Yankees game soon?

I think we may help him get some of his stuff out there. I only have two weeks until school starts (at Mars High School, where he’s a math teacher and baseball coach), which is kind of a bummer. There’s a couple weekend trips that we’ll have. They’re in Baltimore in September and maybe a trip to New York. Will’s season ends with about two or three weeks to go, so hopefully we’ll make a trip with him to see his brother playing there.

What’s it like to have two sons playing professional baseball?

I wouldn’t trade it for the world. They’re in two different places. Will’s actually had a good last couple months. Hopefully, he’ll finish this last six weeks pretty strong. What’s been nice is, Will is playing in Richmond in the Eastern League and they play Akron, Altoona and Erie, so we’ve been blessed to have those two guys so close. Yesterday, he was in Somerset (N.J.), so if the Yankees were home we could’ve knocked out both of them, Will in Somerset and David in New York. But the Yankees were in Miami.

How did you deal with the ups and downs?

Obviously, the roughest patch was probably last year. What’s funny is everybody says how bad it was, but he had a run of 18 consecutive saves. It just goes to show you how difficult that job is. I always try to tell him that there’s only 30 people in the world that do what he does. You can look around the big leagues and see that there’s not a lot of closers that have had good year after year. Devin Williams had a rough patch, (Camilo) Doval with the Giants, (Alexis) Diaz from the Reds. It’s tough because there’s so much data on pitchers and guys get figured out. You don’t have to reinvent yourself but you have to find ways to adapt. David was able to do that. He got a fresh start when he went to Triple-A in Indianapolis, and he’s done really well since. We were so proud of him the way he handled that. It’s just a little bump in the road. I have a really good friend, a college teammate who’s an international scout for the Padres. It’s so funny. I’m so used to living and dying on 20 high school games that 162 games is a long season. My friend would say, ‘It’s just a little bump in the road.’ I couldn’t wrap my head around that for the longest time because as a high school coach, you have two bad games and you might find yourself out of playoff contention. That’s the biggest thing I had to learn in dealing with Dave and Will when they had ups and downs. His mindset was, ‘I’ve got to take care of business and figure it out.’

How proud are you of what David did off the field, becoming a three-time Roberto Clemente Award nominee for his work in charitable causes?

Both Sue and I, we’re just incredibly proud. There’s so much stuff that he did that we didn’t even know about, with Lending Hearts. It was just unbelievable. We were just so proud. That stuff, becoming a good dad and a really good husband to Casey just goes a long way. That stuff was icing on the cake. Everyone sees the performance on the field but not everyone sees what goes on off the field.